Of Saplings and Swords
by Onion Girl
Summary: An ancient tree child, a showdown with unexpected guests, and a quest for revenge. REVIEWS LOVED!
1. Loss of the Ancients

Of Saplings and Swords

By, S.M.H aka Onion Girl

Samurai Jack is not mine (but Yarrow is!). I have no money (I'm a college student… of course I have no money.). Don't sue me. You won't get much. I'll put them all back nicely when I'm done playing.

Author's Notes: Done on a dare. G I'm already pondering the squeal since this one is done.. J Hope you like it!

Part One: Loss of the Ancients

The sky shone brightly above the samurai, scattering a colorful patchwork of shadows and sunlight onto the forest floor as he walked through the undergrowth. For once in the past weeks, he was sure that no bounty hunters were following, no one was out to kill him for the moment. He could truly relax, allow nature to seep into him. 

Quietly, Jack walked on, the leaves and branches beneath his feet crunching slightly under his weight. As he walked, he noticed the trees getting thinner and thinner, the patchwork of sunlight slowly taking over that of the shadows. A clearing opened abruptly, making Jack stop suddenly. 

Before him was a small dome shaped hill. He could tell that it was once covered by trees, but now, all that stood there were stumps and divots where the remaining memories of the tree had been ripped from the very earth itself. Through out the field, he could see the fallen bodies of people - he didn't know who they were, warrior or innocent. Concerned, Jack ran to the closest figure. It - because he couldn't discern gender on the sexless body - laid facedown, earthy robes the color of moss spread about the body in fragile folds. Carefully, Jack turned over the body, the fabric crackling to pieces at the slightest movement. Whorls of tattoos covered the face and what 'skin' was visible, like rings on a tree. Hair the color of dead leaves hung around the ancient visage of the now dead person.

"He was one of the last ancient," a voice like the wind whispered. In a flash, Jack was on his feet with his sword clutched in his hand. He turned and saw the source of the voice. Before him stood a young woman, clothed in a rich scarlet robe. Her skin was the color of a golden dawn, whirled with darker brasses like the deceased man's was. Eyes of amber looked at him, sorrow and age shinning too clearly in eyes so young. She fidgeted slightly, her saffron hair falling over her shoulders.

"What happened here?" Jack asked, his voice quiet.

"He who blocks the sun came and his soldiers destroyed those who were here because they wouldn't fight with him," she said quietly. "The ancients refused to help him. He killed them all and then destroyed the first forest." 

Jack looked confused. "He who blocks the sun?" he asked, looking at the girl. "Of whom do you speak?"

She looked at him strangely, as if everyone knew of who she spoke. "A massive creature of shadows, with blood and roses for eyes," she said. "He bends and changes shape like a sapling on the cliff of an ocean."  
  
"Aku," Jack muttered, looking around him where the rest of the deceased lay. Only he could cause this much pain and suffering for no reason. The girl simply shrugged, not concerned with names. She turned, walking back from where she had come. Jack turned to follow. "Wait! Can you tell me where he went? What direction?"

The girl stopped short, turning and looking at him. "Why? Do you wish to follow him? Are you one of his soldiers?" The girl seemed to grow massive - not in size but in power - at the mere thought that Jack could have been the reason that her home had been destroyed. "If you are.. I will kill you for what you did!"

"No! I'm not your enemy," Jack said, taking a few cautious steps backwards and displaying the empty hands towards the girl. She seemed to be satisfied. The samurai sighed, looking at her. "I wish to fight him so I can return to my home."

"Your home? Can you not just walk there?" she asked, curious.

"I am separated from my home by more than just distance in miles, but in years and alternate endings," he said.

She nodded, seeming to accept his answer. "I have seen many people walk through this forest, all looking for their homes. I don't know how many got there," she said sadly. "But if you wish to seek the one you call Aku, he traveled towards the sun goes down," she said, pointing to the western horizon. "But that was several moons ago," she said. "You will not catch up with him."

Jack shook his head. "I must try," he said.

"It is darkening," the girl stated simply. "You should not travel in these woods when the Light giver goes down. Come." The girl turned, the fabric of her simple outfit flowing with her graceful movements.

"Don't you wish to bury your kin?" Jack asked, motioning back towards the domed hill.

The girl turned, her sad eyes looking though him. "What was come from the earth will return in its own time and give life once more," she said. "It is not our way to suffocate them beneath the earth. Weather, time and the elements will care for that." She turned again, walking towards the way that Jack had come. Jack followed.

The walk was short, the girl stopping before a massive, ancient tree. As the girl approached, the tree seemed to shiver in greeting, bending down its branches to embrace the girl. Smiling radiantly, she approached the tree, tossing her arms around one of the branches and hugging it as one would embrace an old friend. For a moment, Jack was forgotten as she seemed to whisper to it, her voice like the sound of wind through leaves. She motioned towards the samurai as she talked. The tree seemed to finally take notice of him, straightening out and stretching out massive branches to strike at him. Jack raised his sword, prepared to defend himself.

"No! Don't!" The girl was in front of the offending branches in a breath, her back towards Jack as she talked once more to the tree in the odd voice she had been before. She seemed to be pleading with it. Finally, the tree seemed to sigh, settling once more and draping branches over them to keep most of the sun off of them. The girl sighed.

"I'm sorry," she said. "After so long, he has so little manners." She smiled fondly up at the tree.

"Were you talking to the tree?" he asked, narrowing his eyes in confusion. The girl nodded.

"Of course," she said. "How else would I have kept it from pulling you up and allowing you to dry in the sun?" She asked this so casually that it threw Jack. "But he that keeps the small from the wind and the large from the rain wouldn't do that. He has a sympathetic streak in him."  
  
"What is your name?" he asked, looking between the girl and the tree, noting the similarities in coloring and the swirling marks on her skin.

The girl whistled softly, making another breezy sound.

"That is your name?" Jack asked.

"More or less," she said. "The one who walks in hand with the small keeper and the rain blocker. What is your name?"

"I am called Jack," he said. She looked at him as if she were waiting for the rest of his name. 

"Only Jack?" The Samurai nodded. "How strange your name is," she said. "My common name is Yarrow," the girl said. "It's easier, the short lives tell me."  
  
"Short lives?" he asked, utterly and completely confused.

The girl nodded once more. "Like you," she said. "They tell me the at most people don't have long names."  
  
"Why am I a 'short life'?"

The girl smiled. "Because, your lives are that of a breath compared to mine," she said. "I've lived over a thousand years," she said. Jack sat down suddenly.

"Perhaps you should explain all of this to me," Jack said. Yarrow smiled, seating herself on the carpet of leaves and moss.

"It would help erase the look of confusion on your face," she said. And there she started in on her tale.

So she told the one called Jack of the long dreamy life of her kind, of years being a mere sigh. She told him of snows, of rains, of wind and sun. She told him of how their kind came to be - the product of peace between man and the massive first forest, the forest that all forests were children of. She told him of it all, in long dreamy words strung together like prose. And as the forest grew darker, the very tree they sat under radiated a soft, earthly white glow, illuminating Yarrow's face in insubstantial shadows. It went on until early morning, when the sun was first peaking over the horizon like a meek child. When the tree child called Yarrow paused her story and turned to look at her companion, she saw the samurai, carefully wedged between the massive roots of He-who-keeps-the-small-from-the-wind-and-the-large-from-the-rain, asleep. Smiling, the girl turned and walked towards the forest to prepare for the long journey ahead.

After all, she couldn't allow this little short life to have all of the good fortune, now could she?


	2. Traveling Companions

Authors Notes: Well, okay, so I got lazy! I'm SORRYY!! I'll upload two of the chapters to appease the fan fic gods.. J Jack isn't mine. Yarrow is. She's mean. Don't touch her.

Part Two: Traveling Companions

When Jack awoke, he didn't realize where he was. The tree child, the massive thinking tree, the bodies of the ancients - it was all unreal to him, like a mere dream that he had conjured up with the assistance of the breezes and the massive forest around him.

Yawning and opening his eyes, he turned to see two massive branches bent in front of him, wavering back and forth as if looking at him. Startled, the samurai scooted back, appraising the tree as the memory of the previous night swept over him. So it wasn't a dream. The tree with thought, the child of the tree and the death of the ancients at the hand of Aku was all true.

Then where was Yarrow?

Worried, the samurai rose and walked towards the forest, swatting the last searching branches of the girl's tree from his shoulder. As he walked, he could hear the sound of something pawing at the loose earth and leaves then a soft voice answering the creature's movements with gentle words of reassurance.

Parting the leaves slightly, Jack saw the girl in a small clearing, on hand on the muzzle of a massive bear like creature. Shaggy fur hung around the creature like moss, tendrils of brown hanging like roots over its eyes. Along its back, buds in various state of bloom splashed bright crimson, saffron and tangerine onto the otherwise dull pelt.

The creature sensed Jack and it and Yarrow turned as one. Seeing him, she smiled. "I though that a mount would be useful to us," she said.

"Us?"

"Yes," she said, placing a small bridle on the creature as she talked. "I'm coming with you."

"It is too dangerous," Jack said, taking a step towards the girl and the creature. "I can't let you put yourself in that danger."

"I am prepared for danger, I am prepared for death." Jack looked at her oddly when she spoke the last phrase. "My tree will die soon from the poison that Aku leached into the earth. He has a few hundred years left, maybe a thousand. By my standards, he would die in the prime of life now. And so will I, no matter where I happen to be." She turned and looked at him for the first time since the start of the conversation. Her eyes were sad again, two empty pools of honey. "So you see, I have nothing to loose but all to gain. I will avenge the death of the ancients, of my family, even if it is at the cost of my own life."

Jack looked at the girl, not realizing her age or the power that she seemed to radiate - power that all things heavy with years seemed to posses. She looked young enough to be a sister to him. He wanted to protect her, to keep her from danger. The samurai sighed. 

"Very well."

The girl nodded, but did not smile. "I will be ready briefly," she said, handing him the reins to the earthen bear. She strode back to the tree, her feet carrying her swiftly over the maze of gnarled roots and earth. The massive tree seemed to shiver at her approach. Wordlessly, she wrapped her arms around the trunk as much as she could, embracing the massive tree. Branches drooped downwards, enveloping the girl and almost hiding her from sight.

In that moment, Jack understood the closeness of the bond between the tree child and the ancient tree. For thousands of years, they had been the only constant in each others lives. As she had put it, regular humans had very brief lives, fleeting in the eyes of her seemingly ageless existence. And he now understood the reason for her coming on his quest, the reason that she wanted to be rid of Aku - revenge, pure, simple and beautiful. Not only for her fallen 'ancients', but for the life long friend that was being robbed slowly from her along with her own life.

As the branches parted, he could see Yarrow standing at arm's distance from the trunk, a small bag at her feet. Her hand was stretched, fingertips touching the bark. Windy words of farewell whispered from her mouth as she picked up the bag and replaced her hand at her side. With that, she turned and walked towards Jack once more, her face a mask of steely resolve, harder than even the blade he carried at his side.

"Let us leave," she said, her voice sharp and controlled. "We have little daylight to waste." With that, she took the reins of the beast and lead the way out of the clearing. Startled, Jack allowed her to walk ahead a few steps before turning back himself to look at the tree. It seemed to droop closer to the earth, branches swinging just above the grasses and the moss. Looking between the girl and the tree once more, Jack half sprinted to catch up with the girl once more. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Yarrow walking, looking straight ahead.

She didn't know it, but Jack also saw the lone tear - a tear that contained a mix of anger, sadness, and of loss in the finite depths of it's salty shape - fall unchecked down her cheek.


	3. Powers

Author's Notes: Yeeep. Another chapter. Reviews are loved. Flames will be used to keep me warm. J As always, Jack isn't mine. Yarrow is. Don't take her. She bites people.

Part Three: Power

The two of them fell into a comfortable routine, the samurai and the tree child. They traveled during the day, and making camp at night. During all of this, they passed the time by telling stories of home - Jack of his parents, the samurai that had inspired him. Of Aku sending him to a twisted reality of the future. Yarrow told of long summer dreams, of the first taste of sunlight on her skin so many years ago. Of fires that were set to kill her kind off like common weeds, feared because of their seemingly limitless lifespan.

They even became used to each other - although Jack had been a little worried about lighting a camp fire around the girl. When she noted it, she merely laughed cheerily at him, a little embarrassed at the concern for her feelings.

"I have seen many things in my life, Jack," she said, her amber eyes dancing with mirth for the first time that he could remember. "I see no harm in using the dead wood from still living trees as a deathly sin. It's another part of the circle - providing life and what not." 

After five moons of traveling towards sun goes down, they saw a village in the distance - walls of adobe, bustling lines of people moving around like a colony of ants. For a long time, they stood upon the hilltop, looking at it.

"We need to refill our water botas," Yarrow finally said. "There are no oasis that I know of around here. It is either that or we thirst until we find a pool of water."

Jack sighed slightly. He had no urge to go into a town where there could possibly be more bounty hunters wanting to take his freshly severed head to Aku. But Yarrow had a point. Water wasn't something they could go without for long - she needing it more than here due to the mere fact that she was part plant. When he turned to agree with her, Jack saw the tree child digging through her bag of belonging before finally producing a long cloak of gauze silk, a hood trimmed with golden tassels hanging beside it. 

"What do you need that for?" Jack asked as she arranged it over her shoulders, slipping the hood over her head. Beneath the shadows, the whorls on her face seemed to disappear.

"Not all are kind to my people," she said. "I don't want to draw attention to myself. Battle isn't something I long for at the moment."

Jack nodded, slipping his basket like hat onto his head, arranging it low over his face. Together, the two and the mossy bear like mount turned and walked towards the city, falling in step behind several wagons laden down with all manner of goods.

Once inside the massive walls of the city, it was easy to see that few people actually lived here. More than likely, it was a place where the desert dwelling people could gather to sell and trade their goods to keep on living. All manner of craft was around them - baskets, blankets, yarn, food. Glancing over, Jack could see a small grin of child like amusement at all of the hustle and bustle on Yarrow's lips. Taking the botas from the bear mount's back, Jack tapped her on the shoulder.

"There should be a well in the center of the town," he said. "I'll go and fill them up while you see if we need any supplies."

Yarrow nodded and tugged on the bear's reins as she turned her attention to the different manners of goods around her.

Jack shook his head, turning and walking towards the center of the square where a massive well stood, stone walls spreading out in almost five feet from the center on all sides. The massive size allowed ample room for all to fill their buckets, pots and botas with water easily. Sighing, Jack sat down on the edge of the well, scooping water into the botas and stopping them up once more before taking a handful of the water and putting it to his own lips. Even in the hot sun, the water proved to be cool and clear, washing his parched throat. 

As he sat there, he could see the saffron cloaked form of Yarrow making her way from merchant to merchant, the dedicated bear mount plodding along behind her like a massive, loyal dog. He smiled. Even after all these years, the simple activity of people made the tree child smile. He watched her from a far for awhile, watching her elegantly reach out to receive a sample edge of the cloth. He could almost see her intense amber eyes scrutinizing the work with ageless wisdom before deciding that she didn't want the product and heading off to the next merchant. Jack had no idea how long he watched her but she was soon close to the end of the merchant's row, standing in front of a flower merchant. 

Jack walked up and stood silently beside her. She was leaned over, gently touching the petals of an exotic bloom of sapphire and violet. It seemed to turn to look at her, leaning into her touch like a cat that enjoyed when you scratched its ears just so. She smiled with child like whimsy. 

"I have never seen blooms such as these," she said, her voice both happy and sad. "Not much bloomed in the forest I lived in. And if it did, it was never sapphire - always red, gold and orange."  
  
"Flowers are rare and beautiful," Jack said idly, looking at the blooms. As Yarrow stood there, more and more of the blooms seemed to become aware of her powerful presence. The gem colored petals seemed to turn on their stems to get a better view. "I think they like you," he said, smiling slightly.

Yarrow giggled with child like whimsy, reaching out to touch a particularly curious saffron bloom. As Jack stood there, content to watch the tree child talk to the blooms, a hand fastened on his shoulder and spun him around. 

In quicker than it takes to say it, Jack's sword was in his hand, naked steel ready. Before him loomed three massive men. Broad shoulders hid any idea of a neck as heads seemingly out of proportion with the rest of their bodies perched atop the massive frame. Beady black eyes peered down at the samurai. 

"Are you the one they call Jack?" the lead one asked, his voice high and nasal, like all of the world made him allergic.

"Who wishes to know?" he countered, his hand tightening around the hilt of his sword.

"Our master Aku. We were sent to bring you to him."  
  
Behind him, he could feel Yarrow suddenly tense up and could almost see her eyes narrow. Her power suddenly became focused to a deadly edge, her whole body radiating the ancient and powerful energy within her core.

"I will not go easy," Jack warned. "I have no quarrel with you."  
  
The trio of massive apelike bounty hunters wasted no words, pouncing on Jack with speed that seemed unreal for their size and weight. In a flash, Jack was above them and then behind them. Their maces cught the edge of his sword as they turned, deflecting the well placed blows. For a moment, the enemies faced off, sizing each other up. Just around the arm of the massive men, Jack could see Yarrow standing, her whole body tensed and fists clenched at her side. IN the bare second that it took for Jack to peer over at the girl, the three bounty hunters were on him. It was sheer luck that Jack dodged the blow - feeling the wind created by the spiked mace's passing as it plummeted downwards and into the ground near his feet. 

"Leave him alone," a voice said quietly but carrying above the babble of the fight and the crowd that was slowly gathering. The three bounty hunters pretended to not hear it, striking out at Jack again. "I said leave him alone!"

There was a sudden crack of thunder in the air as Yarrow's power finally broke down the last barriers of the girl's will. As all eyes turned to the figure cloaked in saffron gauze, a nimbus of golden light gathered around her. Behind her, the cart of flowers danced wildly, turning on their stems and lashing out. Those with thorns formed threatening braids of sharp daggers. Vines seemed to grow, snapping out like whips. The power around her kept building, forming it's own wind and pushing the hood off of her face. The brassy whorls on her face shone brilliant gold and her eyes shone like the core of stars.

Sensing that the true threat to them at the moment was this girl, the trio of bounty hunters advanced towards Yarrow, weapons ready and in hand. Before they could come close enough to use their weapons, the foliage turned weapons of melee launched at the advancing forces. Braided lengths of thorned stems wrapped around their legs, dragging them to the ground as vines constricted their cheats. People in the crowd, seeing her true form as a tree child, advanced as well, meeting the same fate as the bounty hunters. Slowly, blossoms crawled from the cart, wreathing the girl to her waist, a protective shield.

Some ran, terrified at what was happening. Most stayed, to awed to move. Jack was one of these, watching the power that the girl wielded forming weapons of warfare. Snapping out of his reverence, he ran forward. The vines didn't attack him, lashing out at those that have followed after the samurai. As he approached the girl, the blossoms that entwined her legs retreated and allowed Jack to grab the girl and flee towards the exit. Slowly, the tree child's eyes lost their golden glow of power and the nimbus of amber fire around her body receded. Her muscles relaxed, her entire body going limp for a few moments as the power let her go once more. 

"That wasn't necessary," Jack muttered, putting her on the back of the bear mount as he took the reins of the beast. 

"You didn't see what they had in their hands, did you?" she muttered back, sounding sleepy.

"Yes. Weapons."  
  
"No. Sedatives. Half empty. The same color as the tips of their mace spikes," she said, a yawn punctuating the end of her sentence. "One nick, one touch, and you would have been on the sand and drug away to Aku like dessert on a platter."

Jack decided not to say anything as they fled the small adobe walled market places, making their ways towards the hills where the sun seemed to be hiding behind. He heard a yawn behind him and then felt someone nestling into his back. Assuming that there was no one on the bear mount with them, he deduced that it was Yarrow. 

"What are you doing?" he asked, looking over his shoulder to see her tousled saffron hair.

"I'm drained from that little trick back there. I need sleep," she muttered simply, nuzzling closer against Jack's back. Within a few seconds, the girl's breathing evened out and she appeared to be sleeping. Smiling to himself and reaching back to arrange the cloak so that it covered her shoulders, Jack aimed the bear mount in the direction of sun goes down. In the direction of Aku.


	4. Good From Aku

Part Four: Good from Aku

The final village before the mountain range slowly loomed into view, a small, quaint place with painted shutters and red roofs. Whitewash walls and picket fences framed small gardens full of all manner of blossoming thing. In the center of the village was a well, wide and clear. Just to its north was the inn, where the two travelers decided to stay for the night. Yarrow managed to check the bear mount into a small stable attached to the inn for a night, assuring them that he wouldn't eat the horses.

They walked in silence until Yarrow spoke quietly. "How much farther do you think we have until we reach Aku?" she asked quietly, looking over at him. Her hood was down around her shoulder, saffron hair spilling over her shoulders to obscure half of her face. Jack sighed and gave a slight shrug. 

"There is no knowing," he said. "He travels swiftly, with no regard for sleep or hunger."  
  
Yarrow nodded absently, turning to examine window boxes of blooms as they passed. The flowers turned and looked at her, seeming to nod greeting to an old friend. They approached the inn, Jack (ever the unknowing gentlemen) allowing Yarrow to enter first. As they took a seat at the small bar, the innkeeper walked up, inquiring what their pleasure would be tonight, telling them of their specialty stews, cheeses and mutton.

"Just stew, please," Jack said. The innkeeper turned to Yarrow.

"Same with a glass of water," she said, idly tracing the grain of the wood in the bar top. The innkeeper noted the girl's skin and the pattern on the bar, becoming uneasy lest he offend the maiden. He nodded to them both and walked though a doorway to place their orders. 

Yarrow sighed, making a first on the bar. "I wish Aku had never appeared in my forest," she muttered sadly.

"All who see such times wish to have never seen them," Jack said. Yarrow managed a twisted smile, turning her amber eyes upon Jack. 

"Do you ever miss your home so much it hurts? So much that you would give all the years of your life just to see a glimpse of it again? To catch the smell of the breeze near the trees?" she asked, sounding wistful.

"I was young when Aku attacked my home," he said, avoiding looking at Yarrow. She smiled, her intense gaze still on the samurai, who continued to look forward.

"Well, I guess some good did come of Aku," she said in such a casual way that Jack paused a moment before turning and looking at her as if she had lost her common sense.

"What good could Aku cause?!" he demanded, sounding somewhere between amazed and irritated at the girl. She was the last person he would have expected to hear the words 'Aku' and 'good' used in the same sentence without the use of a metaphor for death in there somewhere. 

She smiled thoughtfully, pausing as she looked at him. "If it weren't for Aku, I wouldn't have gotten to travel with you or even meet you," she said. 

Jack looked at her, wordless and stunned. That was the last thing that he had been expecting the girl to say. She smiled even wider at her stunned silence. Jack was never happier to see the innkeeper approach with their meals - it gave him something other to do with his mouth besides gape at her in terribly embarrassed pride.

The two ate their meals in companionable silence, the sounds of spoons and glasses more conversation than was needed. At the conclusion of their meal, the asked for rooms for the night - two since the beds were made one and neither of them were comfortable with the idea of sleeping together.

They ascended the stairs quietly, the sound of the stairs giving to their weight making soft, musical creaks to the stillness. At the top of the stairs, a boy sat, as it waiting for them. Yarrow smiled kindly - Jack had discovered she always had a soft spot for children - and kneeled down next to the boy. 

"What are you doing, young one?" she asked, smiling at him. "It's terrible dangerous to sit at the top of the stairs. I'm sure there are other children still playing just outside." The boy looked up at her and she suddenly stood up, taking a step back. Jack could feel her power welling up inside her, blossoming around her eyes once more. He looked at the boy.

Two eyes stared back at him from beneath raven black bangs. One eye was crimson as a sunset, as blood on a sword, as the deepest shade of dying leaves. The other was sparkling a sickly green, like limes, like spring leaves unfurling, like the color of and unripe berry. A twisted smile spread out across the boy's face, a laugh too old for the small frame blossoming from his lips.

"Who are you?" Jack asked, his hand resting on his sword. He had no urge to hurt a child.

"Fool," the voice said, both travelers recognizing it immediately.

"Aku," Yarrow hissed, her voice dripping with hate even at the mere mention of the creature. "Let the boy go."  
  
Aku-boy laughed again. "You're following me, aren't you?" he asked, looking at Jack. Jack simply stared back, his fury evident as his hand clenched the sword tighter, forcing himself to keep from bringing the blade down on the boy. "I'm right here, samurai," he said. "You could kill me now. But then, you'd kill this boy, wouldn't you?" Aku-boy made a 'tsk-tsk' noise, shaking his head.

"Did you merely come here to taunt us, Aku?" Jack asked, his teeth clenched in anger.

"No, well, at least not only to taunt you," Aku-boy said, smiling thinly. "I'm just beyond the hills just beyond this town. I assume that you still wish to battle, Jack?" he asked, looking up with his duo toned eyes. Jack said nothing, his hand clenching even tighter on the hilt of the blade. Beside him, he could feel the power rising even higher around Yarrow, her eyes glowing with golden light. The Aku-boy looked over at Yarrow. "And you. You wish to avenge the death of your precious ancients?" He said it mockingly, as if the ancients were merely rodents that were meant for the slaughter. Merely pests that were better left dead. Yarrow clenched her teeth, following Jack's example of silence.

"I will be there for three days, samurai. Afterwards, I will be gone from there - where? Who knows. You have one chance," he said. "I await you there." With that, the boy fell backwards onto the wooden floor. 

Yarrow's concern for the boy immediately took over, her power quickly retreating behind her eyes once more. She cradled the boy's head in her lap for a few seconds before he awoke, looking around. He fastened his dazzling green eyes on Yarrow, a child-like expression of curiosity on his face. "What happened?" he asked.

"You fell and bumped your head," Yarrow partly lied. "We saw you fall. You're just fine," she said, helping the boy stand up. He looked over at Jack and then back at Yarrow.

"Oh.. Thank you," he said, wrapping Yarrow in a quick hug. She smiled, touching her glowing fingertips to his forehead. 

"Now go play," she said, pushing him in the direction of the main room where the other children were sure to me. "Be careful though. And be of good heart." 

The boy smiled and nodded before trampling back downstairs, the sound of the stairs creaking marking his path. Yarrow sighed, looking ancient and tired for a moment before she pushed herself up once more. Without a word, she walked and turned into Jack's room. Startled at her odd actions, Jack followed and turned into the room just in time to see her lay down beside the bed, wrapping her cloak around her slim body and pillowing her head on her arms.

"What are you doing?" he asked, looking at her as if she had lost her mind.

"I have no urge to be snuck up on by Aku," she said, not even opening her eyes. "If Aku is near, I'd like to have the assurance that there is at least one other person present if I need to battle." 

Seeing some logic in it, Jack walked over to the opposite side of the bed and laid down on the floor. Realizing what had been done, Yarrow sat up and peered over the bed at Jack's back.

"Now what are you doing?" she asked. "There's a perfectly good bed here."  
  
"Exactly. What kind of person would I be if I slept in the bed while not three feet away, a woman slept on the floor?" he asked, not even turning around. Yarrow sat there for a few minuets, leaning against the bed and looking at Jack as if he HAD truly lost his mind. Sighing, the tree child carefully removed the blanket from the bed and rose to drape it over Jack's form. She didn't know if he was asleep or awake - either way, he made no move in response.

Yarrow shook her head, laying down once more. "Goodnight, samurai," she said, pillowing her head on her arms and drifting of to sleep.


	5. Realized Beauty, Discovered Affections

Part Five: Realized Beauty, Discovered Affections

Sunlight filtered through the curtains that hung before the window, touching Jack's closed lids. Squinting, the samurai rose and looked around. The room was empty, save Yarrow's pack bag and his sword. She must have rose before him and gone downstairs, Jack thought as he stretched. Despite the fact that he had slept on the floor, he felt more than ready the day.

Jack quickly grabbed up their belongings, putting his sword once more by his side and slinging the pack bag over his shoulder. He walked down the stairs, looking around the bustling common room for the innkeeper. The innkeeper found Jack.

"She's outside," he said, knowing that the samurai was looking for Yarrow. Jack nodded his thanks and walked out the front door. The smell of baking breads wafted through the air in nearly tangiable waves. In the morning light, Jack could see the dew shining like small gems on the flowers, adorning them like the richest emperors and queens. Hearing the sound of children laughing, Jack turned to see Yarrow running with a trio of younger boys, kicking around a small, cloth ball. Yarrow obviously had very little idea of what the game entailed but was enjoying herself, laughing happily as she ran alongside the children.

Jack smiled, leaning against the wall of the inn to watch her. Her long, crimson skirt was pulled up, tucked slightly into her belt to keep her from tripping over the hem. Her feet were bare, along with her lower calves as she ran. Saffron hair bobbed in time with her movements, the sun shinning just slightly less brilliant than the silken tresses. She turned to look at him noticing him out of the corner of her eyes. Smiling widely, she continued with the game, her slender form topping over the small children. Jack smiled, watching the thousand year old tree child becoming once more an innocent child, a smiling youth. 

He was falling in love with the tree child.

He'd just now realized it, but through the course of their travels, their closeness and conversations, he'd drawn closer to the girl, admiring her strength to go on despite it all. Jack watched as she broke off from the children and jogged over to stand before him, pulling gently on the sleeve of his kimono. 

"Come play," she said, smiling softly. "It's good for the soul and so forth. And it's just plain fun."

Jack shook his head. "I can't," he said, saddness touching the corners of his eyes. Yarrow quickly took note of the way his eyes changed and her face changed accordingly. A small frown pulled at the grin that had once been there.

"You mean it's time to go," she said, looking down at the dust as if the answer to all of their problems were written in the pale dirt road. As she stood there, one of the children broke off from the group, coming over and pulling at Yarrow's sleeve much like she had done to Jack mere seconds before.

"Are you going to come play with us, Yarrow?" he asked, looking up at her with dazzling green eyes. Jack recognized the child - the boy that had been Aku's puppet the night before. Yarrow mustered up a smile and knelt beside the boy, touching his cheek.

"I can't," she said. "We have to start traveling. We still have miles to go before our journey ends."

The boy's eyes welled with saddness. "You're going towards the hills near here, aren't you? To battle someone?" he said. Yarrow nodded, shocked that he had somehow figured out that those were their plans. "I thought so… I had a weird dream where you and him were fighting a giant shadow, but I could never see the shadow. And I never saw how it ended." He sighed, looking up at Yarrow with tears standing in his eyes but his voice remaining sure. "Let me come with you! I have a sword! My daddy was a great fighter! Momma said he was one of the best warriors in his group!"  
  
Yarrow smiled softly. "I can't let you do that," she said, putting both of her hands on his shoulders. "Who would protect your mother?" He looked at her, angry that she had not allowed him to come but sad that she was going anyways. In an instant, he wrapped his arms around her in a quick hug before looking up at Jack.

"You'll protect her, right?" he said. "You'll make sure that she can come back here and play games with me and my friends, won't you? None of the other adults will play with us."

Jack looked down at the young boy. He was so much like he had been as a child. The samurai nodded to the boy. "I will protect her with my life. We will both come back and play with you and your friends as soon as we are done."

The boy seemed satisfied with the answer, nodding sharply. Giving Yarrow one more quick hug, he turned to run towards his friends. Yarrow became acutely aware of something that had been placed around her hand as the boy had hugged her. She looked at it - a small, pure clear crystal on a braided necklace of white horsehair.   
  
"Wait! You dropped something!" she said, holding up the necklace.

The boy turned as he ran. "No I didn't. You keep it. So you can remember me! My name is Kit!" Before Yarrow could say anything more, he disappeared around a corner after his friends.

"I could never forget you, Kit," she said to herself, still looking at the necklace. After a few moments, she slipped the chord over her head and tucked the crystal into the front of her dress collar. Finally, she sighed and pushed herself to her feet. "Why did you lie to him, Jack?" she said sadly, not meeting the samurai's eyes.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"You know that it's unlikely that we'll live long enough to come back to this village," she said sadly, looking everywhere but at Jack. 

"If we die, I will die protecting you," Jack said simply, as if it were common knowledge. Yarrow finally looked up at him, her amber eyes sparkling with saddness that threatened to spill forward. 

"Jack, I'm hardly worth dying for," she said, giving a bitter smile. "I mean, I've lived hundreds of years, almost an entire century. I've made my peace. I'm prepared to give up this life."

Jack simply shook his head. "I made a promise to that boy that I would protect you," he said. "I will not break that promise."

Yarrow sighed. "It's too bad that I made myself the same promise about you," she said, turning to retrive their bear mount from the stables.


	6. In The House of My Enemy

Part Six: In the House of My Enemy

They made it to the hills after nightfall, the pair walking along in silence, knowing very well that this could be their last night to live. Neither of them wanted to talk about it - talk about regrets and could have beens; talk about how it could have all been different if they had never encounter Aku to begin with; about how they could simply walk away from the responsibility of battling Aku regardless of the outcomes.

"We should make camp for the night," Jack said as they approached the base of one of the hills. Several trees formed a half circle, branches battling for moonlight. Yarrow simply nodded, walking along side the bear mount. As they stopped, she slipped the reins from the bears head, burying her head in the mossy coat and muttering a few words into his ears. The bear mount made a deep guttural sound, growling softly. Finally, it gave a massive sigh, butting against Yarrow before turning back in the direction that they had come from.

"He knows the way home," she said, watching the bear mount for a few moments before turning her attention back to Jack. "There is not need for him to die. I think he should have some cubs to take care of by now." She shook her head. "What needs done?" she asked, indicating to their camp site.

Soon, the two of them had gathered enough fallen branches to make a small fire. In the darkness of the night, it shone softly, casting a golden glow on the two travelers. They sat in the silence of the fire, the occasional crackle of the burning wood making conversation with the soft wind that whispered through the branches of the trees. Yarrow finally broke the silence, looking over at Jack, who was poking the fire with a loose stick.

"Do you have any regrets?" she asked quietly, her voice sounding loud in the silence around them. 

"Regrets?"

"About your path, your fate and all," she said. "I mean, if you could have, would you have done everything differently?" 

Jack thought for a few minuets. A day didn't pass that he did not think about what his life could have been if it had not been for Aku. He could have stayed with his parents, grown to be a samurai and worked at his father's side as a general or a commander. He could have lived what he had always considered a 'normal' life.

But on this quest to get back to his true time, he had meet so many different people - friends and allies of strange characteristics and species. There had not been a moment where he had been 'bored' or without something to do. It was almost like a job - something to do day in and day out. Even though it brought no monetary reward, it always seemed to pay him with rich experiences.

Jack shook his head. "There are things I would do differently - I would have wished Aku away, but I would not even trade my worst days in this alternate time. Even though it has been a hard life here, every minuet of it was worth its work."

Yarrow smiled faintly, looking into the crackling blaze before them. "There are some things I would trade or change - maybe some people's view about my kind, how we live too long to keep life long friends among the short lives. But I would have to agree with you. Even the worst days, I would not trade." She sighed, silent once more. "Do you think we honestly have a chance against Aku?" she asked, her voice tinged with sorrow. "I mean, as great as our powers are - you with your sword and I with my earth magic - do you think that we stand a chance against him at all?"

Jack looked over at Yarrow sadly. Despite the fact that she was aged more than he would ever even dream of, she was still terrified of leaving this world behind, no matter how much she said that she was ready for the next life.

"We stand a chance," Jack said. "Aku has not chosen to allow himself to face me in battle for as long as I have been in this realm. Perhaps he fears me. And with your powers, your abilities, we may stand an even better chance. He has never battled your kind before, only his minions have."

"I wish I'd never heard of Aku, or had to have battled him," Yarrow muttered, ever plunging deeper into sadness. She pulled her knees up to her chest, resting her chin on her knees. 

"So do all who survive him," Jack said, reaching over and placing a hand on Yarrow's shoulder. Despite the fact that she looked like a finely carved wood doll, her skin was like any other humans, soft and warm to the touch. "Better times will come once this passes. You will see."  
  
She gave him a weak smile, a reshaping of the lines of sadness on her face. "Perhaps there will be." She gave a soft laugh. "I haven't even thought of what I will do once Aku is dead - I haven't thought beyond revenge."  
  
Jack realized he hadn't either. Would he be able to go home? Return to the life that he had known there? Or would he be trapped in this universe that he had come to both love and hate? What would he do then? "I haven't either," Jack confessed. "I'd probably travel this world if I wasn't sent home. If I was sent home, I don't know what I would do there either."  
  
Yarrow smiled slightly more . "Then I would come with you. I have no where else to go or no one else I know that I not sleeping in the eternal," she said, as if that decided it. "You could probably use a friend either way."  
  
Jack smiled slightly. "I would like that," he said simply.

"Than that's settled," she said. "Better for worse, for here or at your mythical sounding home, we shall be fellow travelers of time and space." She extended her hand towards Jack. Giving a lopsided grin, the samurai clasped the girl's hand, her small hand almost disappearing within his sword callused one.

"And tomorrow, we battle," she said, her voice almost sounding cheerful. "Tomorrow, the first day of the rest of our lives."


End file.
